The Day of a Shiny Golden Cloud
by sunshineyday
Summary: We all know about the flying Nimbus, the world's favorite cloud. But do we really know him? In this story, you can finally see what one of the most forgotten characters of Dragonball Z does when they're not contributing their small part to saving the world.


**This is just my take on how the flying Nimbus works, so to speak, so I apologize in advance if anything is inaccurate. Anyways, enjoy!**

It was a beautiful day outside. The bright blue sky was filled with puffy clouds and rays of warm sunshine—it was the perfect day in many people's eyes.

If one was high in the sky, perhaps by airplane or by independent flight, they could see a certain cloud that stood out from the rest of the clouds in the sky that was golden, round, and puffy, leaving behind a trail of gold as it cut through the sky.

The cloud spun around, enjoying itself as it twirled through the sky when suddenly it changed its course dramatically. Why, you might ask? This particular cloud had a sixth sense; it always knew when it was needed, even though it could not hear its name being called.

And now was one of those times.

It didn't take long for the golden puff to make its way to Goku, who was holding his son Gohan. Gohan was donned in his yellow and green outfit, and his red hat with the four star dragon ball on it was placed securely on the four-year-old's head.

"See? I told you Nimbus always comes!" Goku grinned at his son. Gohan smiled in joy as he was placed on the yellow cloud. Nimbus felt happiness grow inside itself as the boy hugged it tightly. The cloud enjoyed affection from this sweet, innocent child just as much as evil, impure people revolted it. It never chose to assist such people, but savored the company of people such as Goku's son.

Nimbus felt the weight of Goku on itself and took off into the air as Goku shouted, "Off to Master Roshi's we go!"

Nimbus flew as fast as he could. Being a magical cloud, it always knew where the rider desired to go without them having to say so, and so it was making its way to Kame Island. It heard Gohan's laughs as it cut through the air, taking the fastest yet safest route possible.

It took about three quarters of an hour to get to the small island. The cloud slowed down and slowly started to descend, stopping completely a few feet above the island's shore as it felt its two passengers hop of its back.

Goku began to speak and suddenly the bald man, the old man who owned the house, the blue-haired lady and the turtle appeared. They entered into a conversation and Nimbus felt no longer felt needed. It raced off into the sky to wait for its next calling like always.

The cloud raced north—it had not been northwards in quite a while and for some reason felt compelled to head that way. It spiraled through the clouds, its own vapors miraculously unable to blend in with the others of its species as it did the one thing it knew to do, and that was flying.

Suddenly Nimbus heard it, and if the cloud had a heart, it would have jumped.

It was a faint scream, a cry for help, and Nimbus was immediately heading to the scene, reacting on cloud-ish instinct.

The cloud soared towards the mountainy cliffs, where a child was airborne—heading rapidly for the hard, stiff ground, really. Somehow the little boy had fallen off one of the many cliffs of the mountain after wandering around it for a while, and in one moment his life was subjected to an imminent death.

"HEEEEELLLLLP MEEEEE!" the boy screamed as he continued his descent. "I'M GONNA DIE ALL ALONE AND I—,"

But the boy's cries were quickly silenced as he felt himself land on all fours on something dreadfully soft and fluffy. He looked down and saw the yellow tufts of the Flying Nimbus under him.

"W-what on earth…?" the boy wondered aloud, his green eyes shining with confusion. He looked around and, upon seeing he was still high in the sky, he quickly grabbed onto the cloud in fear.

"Aye-aye-aye, we're still too far from the ground!" he wailed.

The Flying Nimbus felt happiness again as the boy hugged it tightly. His innocent, kind-hearted spirit reminded the cloud of Gohan—so happy, so pure. It was like golden honey, and the cloud quickly took off into the sky, filled with joy.

The boy screamed at first, startled as he clutched the yellow puff even tighter, if that was possible. However, as the minutes passed, he slowly relaxed. They flew high above the other clouds, and soon the boy started to smile at the peacefulness and tranquility of this temporary separation from the earth.

"Yay, this is so much fun!" he exclaimed, quite enjoying the wind that blew through his light brown hair.

Nimbus lunged forwards faster, pleased at delighting the boy. It sensed that the child felt he needed to get home, however, and so it started to head for that location in the quickest route possible.

A few minutes passed when suddenly the cloud came to a halt. The boy, who looked rather confused, frowned.

"What? Why did we stop?" he asked in a whining tone. It was then that he looked down at the little village below them, dotted with colorful specks of houses and other buildings, as well as a few people and cars proceeding with their daily tasks. They were specifically above a house that had a bright green pickup truck in front of it.

"Whoa… h-how'd you know where I live?" the boy asked.

Nimbus made no reply, obviously, but slowly started to descend. The boy sighed heavily as he rested laid on his stomach, resting his elbows on the golden cloud.

"Yeah, I guess mama's going to be mad at my being gone…," he stated, disappointment lined in his voice. Nimbus stopped, hovering a yard above the vividly green grass. The boy sat up and hopped off the cloud, brushing off his ragged overalls and wiping his dirt-smudged face with his sleeve. He smiled, looking at the flying Nimbus with sparkling eyes.

"Are you going to stay?"

No reply.

"My name's Toby. What's your name?"

The cloud was silent.

"Can I call you… uh… oh! Can I call you Speed?"

Silence.

"All right, Speed it is! I have to go now, Speed, but will you come again?"

Nimbus remained quiet.

Toby grinned as he hugged the cloud one last time, cried "See you later Speed!" and ran off into the house nearby.

:::::::

Nimbus retreated into the sky once more, again cutting through the beautiful cumulonimbus clouds in the blue sky. It was content with its day thus far, but soon felt a sliver of curiosity as it decreased its altitude greatly.

The cloud flew over a flock of sheep in the wide open field.

Since animals' souls are neutral and they cannot be good or bad, the flying Nimbus cannot carry animals. However, it can't _not_ carry animals either. It was, you could say, one of those unfathomable phenomena of the universe, and because of it Nimbus always felt somewhat intrigued by animals.

The golden cloud flew as fast as it could above the flock of sheep, creating a large gust of wind that sent the sheep frolicking away in a panic. It soon heard the confused and angry cries of a nearby farmer about "those meddling teenager delinquents."

Huh. That reminded the cloud of his master's wife.

Nimbus was now far past the sheep and their miffed herder, and it was about to explore the rest of the world when it felt that urge again. It was needed.

But not by Goku.

Even though this child called him by a different name, the cloud still recognized this feeling. In a moment it was heading back to Toby to assist.

:::::::

Nimbus arrived at the house that he had dropped Toby off at earlier and hovered over in front of the wooden front porch of the house. Toby, still in his ragged blue overalls and worn-out boots, had a wide grin on his face as he ran over to Nimbus and hugged it tightly.

"See mama? Speed is my new pet cloud!" the boy cried, his green eyes shining with delight as he turned to a woman standing nearby. She was rather… plump… and wore a long dress and an apron. She was his mother, and had followed Toby outside and watched the cloud appear. She was not pleased.

"Toby! I told you _no_ pets! Especially NOT some stupid cloud!" she yelled angrily. Nimbus saw Toby's expression fall, and it soon felt anger towards this ignorant woman for causing an already existent sorrow it sensed earlier in the boy to grow bigger.

It wasn't going to hurt the child. Couldn't she see how much joy it brought the boy?

"But… mama… the cloud likes me!" Toby protested. He was rewarded with a stone-cold glare from his mother and winced as she grabbed a broom.

"I said no! I don't want a stupid, worthless cloud around!" she yelled as she began to swing the broom at Nimbus.

Nimbus dodged the extremely slow swings and flew towards Toby, scooping him up and speeding away from the woman.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" Toby's mother screamed as she ran after the cloud. Nimbus wasn't going as fast as it could, but it was still enough to lose the woman. Nimbus flew through the town at an extremely slow speed (to itself, at least), sensing where the boy wished to go as it dodged yelling, startled people.

Nimbus could feel the boy's tears on its back as he slowed down completely, coming to a stop under the now fittingly grey sky. It had sensed where the boy wanted to go and understood why, sadness filling up inside itself as it felt the boy's pain. A light rain began to drizzle down and Toby curled up on the cloud motionlessly, his silent cries breaking into a heavy sob.

An uncertain amount of time passed. Toby did not move an inch, and the flying Nimbus was unwilling to move as well. It wanted to help the boy, to ease his pain, and it was going to do just that. Suddenly they both heard a voice.

"Toby, what are you doing here?"

That imbecile of a woman was back, and Nimbus felt anger rise within himself as she folded her arms. Her face, however, was softer as she stared at the crying boy in the rain. Toby sat up and wiped his eyes free of the tears, glancing down at the gravestone that he and Nimbus hovered in front of.

"I miss him mama, I miss him so much…," the boy said quietly.

The woman fought back tears herself.

"We've talked about this, Toby. Hunter wouldn't want you to be upset. I understand—,"

"No, you _don't_ understand!" Toby interrupted, exasperated beyond belief. "Hunter was my brother! My big brother and my bestest friend! You don't understand because you weren't there when he slowly died, weak and sad! I WAS! And it wasn't until after papa put me in the orphanage and left town that you came back after how long? Oh yeah, my _whole life_! So how _would_ you understand?!"

There was silence, and Nimbus could sense regret growing in the woman's heart. Tears now streamed down her face and she sighed deeply.

"Toby, I know I wasn't always there for you. I've been a terrible mother. The fact was I didn't care, and I'm sorry for that. Your brother's death was hard on me too, and I wish your father would have stayed. I'm sorry all this happened, and it might have been different if I was a part of your lives. But… I want to make it up to you in every way I can. I promise I won't leave you again. I love you Toby, and I always will. You can keep your new pet and even have as many as you want, I promise! Just… please, please give me another chance! I love you!"

Nimbus could tell she was literally begging, desperate for her son's acceptance again. Toby was the same way, desperate for his mother's loving care. So he slowly inched towards the woman, bringing Toby closer to her. The boy looked down at the cloud in surprise, the back up at his mother.

But hey, Nimbus always knew where people wanted to be. And he knew that for this boy, it was his mother's arms.

The mother stared at her son for a few seconds before Toby suddenly jumped at her, flinging his arms around her neck.

"It's okay… I love you too mama…," he said quietly, tears streaming down his round cheeks. The flying Nimbus felt a warmth inside the woman's heart, and was satisfied to find that she truly loved her son, and always had despite her foolish actions.

Nimbus floated a few feet away, watching the scene, content that these two broken lives would eventually heal.

Then it felt it.

Another urge to help, to assist. It was needed by its original owner, Son Goku. And it wasn't a pleasurable need, either. It was a distressed one.

Feeling that Toby and his mother would be just fine, he took off into the sky and raced towards the man he knew since they were both young. He was still on that island, but clearly in pain as he clutched his side desperately in attempt to stop the pain. Everyone else appeared shaken as well, and now that awful Piccolo was there. Nimbus was disgusted with him—it wouldn't even go within ten feet of _that_ impure soul. Nimbus' heart would have jumped if he possessed one as a new realization came over him.

The boy, Gohan, was nowhere to be seen.

After a brief argument with the others, Goku hopped on Nimbus. The cloud sped away, startled at the fear, sorrow and anger in his master's heart. What happened? And where was the boy? Why was Goku hurt? Why did he have to team up with that awful Piccolo?

Nimbus could only guess as he finally found his master's destination ten minutes later—a large field with a crater, a space pod, and an alien on it. How odd. Nimbus lowered to the ground gently yet quickly, and Goku hopped off the cloud as soon as he could, beginning to shout at the tall, strange looking man in front of him.

Nimbus knew its presence was now unneeded, so it took off into the sky and relaxed a little, hoping and trusting that Goku and his little boy would be alright. It darted through the clouds again as it did earlier that day, enjoying the free feeling of having no barriers whatsoever and waiting for when it might be needed once more.

For this golden cloud, it was just another ordinary day.

~THE END~

=)


End file.
